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      My son is currently serving a mission for our church in Brazil, and in his weekly letters he always tells us about life there (he is in the southernmost state of Rio Grande del Sul near Porto Alegre, beautiful but life is definitely different than here in the US and in Canada).  It has helped our family become even more grateful for the wonderful life we live here in the Portland Oregon metro area.  I also LOVE sheep (as you can see in our Artist’s Clubhouse).   I had the privilege of trying out Renee Mullins new book “Mini Seasons Volume 3” and chose this beautiful traditional scene that reminds me of all the sheep in Oregon’s Willamette Valley where I grew up.
     At the time I began this project, we hadn’t yet received any of the Roc-Lon fabric that she made her projects with I am SO looking forward to experimenting with it, and we have the cutest little quilt hangers to display them on too!  But I easily adapted it to a wood surface, just expanding the design out a bit and tweaking the top scallops to the sides.  Renee’s patterns are so pretty, all of us at Artist’s Club were oo-ing and ahh-ing over every single one—I want to paint so many of these cute banners!
     Renee’s directions were really easy to follow and I really liked how well the Americana paint covered so I didn’t have to recoat a bunch of times, yet if I made a boo boo I could cover it up easily.  This cute little scene is perfect to celebrate patriotic America, back-to-school, spring lambing season...you might have guessed I chose this pattern because it would look great year-round in my home. 
    The stars I used along the sides are an Artist’s Club favorite, the Rusted Star 1 Inch that comes in a package of 6 and I just painted them, spattered them, then used a little Americana Wood Glue to apply them to the finished project.    

Oh!  Before I forget—if you’re messy like me, you’ll LOVE this product:  Kiss-Off Stain Remover  I didn’t know it existed until Mary Jo and Diane gave me some, it really works!  I used it on Acrylic and Latex and it is fantastic!
Happy Painting!
<3 Lisa

2 comments - Posted by Lisa at 11:26 AM - Categories: Finished Projects | Inspiration | Painting | Staff Projects

Anything can become a pumpkin!

I love painting and decorating for fall and Halloween, there is something about the rich colors that I love that makes my home feel extra warm and cozy; at least that is how my boys have explained it. So, I am always on the lookout for things that I can turn into something wonderful to add to my always growing collection of fall decorations. I love our Rectangle Electric Candlelight, and right away I could see painting a large pumpkin on the front, so my pencil and I went to work. After I had the pumpkin design drawn and painted on, I then painted the sides and back black and then used Renee Mullins’ new Swirl Dot Star Stencil to add a fun pattern in purple, yellow and green to the sides. To make it look more like a real pumpkin I added two artificial green leaves next to the candlestick, which I painted Honey Brown in order for it to look more like a stem. I added a striped fabric bow to the base of the candlestick to finish the look, and I am quite happy with how he turned out. I can’t wait to display him this upcoming fall and Halloween!

My mind has a tendency to think outside the box, especially when it comes to coming up with new ideas for our existing surfaces, and I am always trying to find a way to turn something into a pumpkin because they are so much fun to paint. I challenge you to step out of your creative box and imagine a surface in a different light, you never know, you might just create something wonderful. I would love to hear and see your ideas either here on our Staff Blog or on our Painting Community, so let those creative juices flow!

Happy Painting!

4 comments - Posted by Diane at 6:50 AM - Categories: Finished Projects | Inspiration | Staff Projects